


The Inner Workings

by PoisonPrince



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, look at this gay ass shit, no way in hell im putting all of them holy fuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-12-01 21:46:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11495385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoisonPrince/pseuds/PoisonPrince
Summary: Being a normal-ish person in a world of super geniuses, some of whom happen to be gorillas, is a bit hard. It's especially hard when you were an almost super person. Etienne Rowe, despite his mechanical prowess, is still a normal person working for the government. Reinhardt Wilhelm throws his world into chaos, but Etienne is determined to make things work.





	The Inner Workings

Etienne groaned, rolled over in his bed, and looked at the clock on his nightstand. It was four in the morning. He resigned himself to getting ready for the day, sitting up on the edge of the bed, and reattaching his prosthetic leg. He had kept his arm on for the night. Etienne stood shakily before the nerve connection really took effect. He took a deep breath and made his way to his clothes, pulling on a black t-shirt and a pair of olive cargo pants.

On his way to the door, he grabbed his jacket and set it on the sofa. He yanked on his boots and bloused the pants. Old habits died hard, he guessed. He pulled his leather jacket on last before leaving his hotel room. He went down the stairs and outside to his motorcycle. It was a nice piece of work, sleek and candy coated. It shimmered iridescent. He loved the damn thing and would probably be distraught if it got scratched or dented.

It was only four thirty by the time he was outside next to his motorcycle, lighting a cigarette and thinking about nothing in particular except his morning dose of nicotine. It was going to be a nice day according to the weather, which was a blessing in the Swiss winter. Usually it was rainy and cold. When it hit four forty-five, Etienne decided to leave. He would get there around five fifteen and that seemed early enough for him.

The first person Etienne met when he arrived at the new base he was stationed at was a large boisterous German man. “Hello there!” He shouted from a few yards away. Etienne looked over and saw him. Indeed he was very large, a little over seven feet tall and muscular. He looked like he could lift a car.

“Hi,” Etienne replied. It was a flat greeting, holding none of the genuine nicety that the German’s did. He tucked his keys into his pocket and shoved his hands into his jacket. 

“I don’t think I have seen you around before, have I?” The man cocked his head to one side like a curious dog would. That’s what it was! The man reminded Etienne of a golden retriever with his air of excitement and his smile.

“I’m a civilian that was specially requested to help out. Meet your newest mechanic, name’s Etienne Rowe.” Etienne could swear he had seen this man somewhere before. There was something about the scar crossing over his left eye that seemed familiar. 

“Ah, I forgot to introduce myself didn’t I! My name is Reinhardt Wilhelm,” he said still wearing his smile. Holy. Shit. That’s why Etienne swore that he saw the man before. Reinhardt Wilhelm was a part of the original strike team during the First Omnic Crisis and a part of Germany’s legendary Crusaders. Etienne was in the presence of a legend, and apparently his realization showed. “No need to go quiet!” Reinhardt clapped on hand on Etienne’s shoulder.

“I just- I didn’t realize who you were is all.” Etienne stumbled over the words and considered faking the inability to converse in English, but it was a little too late for that. Reinhardt laughed heartily.   
“Do not worry!” Reinhardt’s grin turned into a gentle smile. “I believe we’ll see each other often, my Crusader armor needs maintenance more than I’d like to admit.” He seemed almost sheepish when he mentioned his armor, but Etienne lit up.

“You have genuine Crusader armor still? I thought they recalled all the suits when the initial Crisis ended.” Etienne was always fascinated by the idea of working on the armor.

“The German military decided it best that I keep mine during my work for Overwatch,” Reinhardt answered. Etienne gave a thoughtful nod. “You need to go to see Commander Morrison if I remember correctly, though I’m not sure the procedure for civilians.”

“I wasn’t told who to see or where to go,” Etienne replied. “So you probably know more than I do.” 

“Well, let me escort you,” Reinhardt said, giving a flourishing bow. Etienne laughed a little, but followed him.

“Thank you,” Etienne said when they reached Morrison’s office. Reinhardt simply smiled and waved goodbye as he walked off. Etienne knocked lightly on the door.

“Come in,” Commander Morrison called from inside. Etienne entered the room, closing the door behind him, and making his way to the desk. “I’m assuming that you’re Mr. Rowe?”

“You’re correct.” Etienne kept his hands in his jacket pockets. 

“You can sit down.” Morrison gestured to the chair on the side of the desk nearest to Etienne. Morrison appeared to be pulling various articles up on his datapad. “It says here that you were discharged due to your injuries?”

“They put that down on paper, but a part of it had to do with how.” 

“And how did these injuries occur?” Morrison rose a brow and looked at Etienne over the datapad. 

“I was told to fall back, but one of the men in my platoon was in a foxhole ahead of me and fire was focused on him. I ran over to him and got in the way of a grenade that was intended for him. Saved his life, but I lost my arm and leg, then my job. Because I saved his life I was given honorable discharge despite my insubordination,” Etienne explained. Morrison furrowed his brow. 

“You lost your arm and leg?” Morrison seemed confused. Etienne pushed up his right sleeve to reveal the meshy, flexible prosthetic. “I see.” Morrison appeared to be taking a few notes before putting down the datapad. “I’ll need you to see Dr. Ziegler to fill out medical forms and I’ll see about finding lodging on site for you, but for the next few days you’ll have to stay at your hotel.”

“Understood,” Etienne replied. 

“I’ll have someone take you to the medical center.” Morrison returned to the datapad for a moment before a knock was heard at the door. “Come in.” The door opened, and in came a tall woman with white dyed hair pulled back into a ponytail. She had to be at least six feet tall, and her left hand was a prosthetic, though not nearly as intricate as Etienne’s was. “Miss Deal, this is Mr. Rowe, I need you to take him to Dr. Ziegler.” She grunted and waved for Etienne to follow her.

“Nice arm,” she commented as they walked. 

“Thank you,” Etienne replied. “I worked with the original designer to customize the mechanism.”

“I’ve always wanted something a little newer, but you’d be surprised at how little they pay for saving the world,” she joked. Etienne couldn’t help but laugh a little. “By the way, call me Lawan.”

“You can call me Etienne,” he said. They stopped walking and she pointed to the building closest to them.

“Well, there’s Dr. Ziegler’s office. Just go in and tell the secretary you’re there as a new employee.” Etienne nodded and walked inside, doing as he was told. The secretary told him to wait until Dr. Ziegler was ready for him. It only took a few minutes.

“Oh, hello! You must be Etienne Rowe, Doctor Angela Ziegler,” the blonde woman extended a hand. Etienne shook it and noted the tired look in her eyes. He could just barely notice a flask peeking out of one of her pockets and a cup of coffee sitting on her desk. She definitely needed a day off.

“A pleasure Dr. Ziegler.” Etienne sat when instructed and filled out the required information.

“You will be required to come to me every few months to inspect your prosthetics, but I have no doubt that they’ll be no problem.” 

“Of course.”

“And do you experience phantom pains from time to time?”

“Not anymore. They only happen when I’m experiencing extreme trauma, from what my last psychologist said.”  
“I see.” Dr. Ziegler made a note. She gave a beaming smile, though I could tell she needed a day off. “If your phantom pains flare up just contact one of the medical officers.” Etienne nodded obediently. 

“If that’s all, I should head over to the hangar or garage or wherever they put me,” Etienne said.

“I believe they have you watching someone work on Lieutenant Wilhelm’s armor so that you can do it yourself, if the message that Commander Morrison sent me was correct. I’ll have an intern escort you over there,” she replied. Within a few minutes a man with mousy brown hair and a bad mustache took me to the workshop.

Etienne thanked him curtly and made his way into the building, marvelling at the advanced tools. Then he spotted Reinhardt and a young woman standing and chatting next to a workbench. Etienne’s heart sunk. Of course he was straight. As he drew closer, Etienne saw the flash of a wedding band on the woman’s hand and not on Reinhardt’s. Maybe there was delusional hope after all. “Ah, Ana this is the newest mechanic!” Reinhardt’s words were just as loud as when they met earlier. Evidently he didn’t have an inside voice.

“A pleasure, Ana Amari at your service.” She extended a hand and Etienne took it. “I know you just got here, but I’ve been having trouble with my rifle. It gets stuck when I reload it and I can’t figure out what it is for the life of me.”

“Etienne Rowe, uh, sure. Just set it down and I’ll take a look.” She did as told, and Etienne immediately started looking it over. He dropped to one knee in front of the bench to get a closer look before he started taking it apart. He worked quickly, using the modifications he made on his prosthetic arm to take it apart. 

“You arm has tools in it?” Ana asked as she watched. 

“I helped to engineer the prosthetic,” he answered. Etienne frowned when the bolt stuck after his first attempt at fixing it. “It’s easier than going halfway across the shop looking for some tiny Phillips screwdriver that someone probably lost anyways.” He tried again and this time the bolt slid smoothly back and forth. “Done.” Ana took it and tested the bolt herself in disbelief. 

“Thank you!” She beamed at him. “I have to get going, Reyes wants me to help with that boy he picked up from the Deadlock operation.” She gave Reinhardt a wave and Etienne a curt nod before leaving. 

“I didn’t expect to see you around so early,” Etienne commented, glancing over to Reinhardt. Reinhardt laughed almost shyly.

“I am not easy on my armor,” Reinhardt admitted. His face seemed a little pink and Etienne couldn’t help but laugh a little.   
“You should be a little nicer, it’s a wonderful piece of work.” Etienne patted the armor where it sat next to the workbench. “So who am I watching work on it?” 

“With how easily you fixed Ana’s rifle? I doubt you need to watch anyone.” Reinhardt’s tone wasn’t meant to be flattering, it just seemed rather matter of fact. 

“I like to get a little bit of training. It was a gun, guns aren’t hard but this? This armor is highly specialized and- Oh what the hell am I saying? Help me get the broken part on the bench.” Etienne sighed and watched as Reinhardt lifted the chest plate and set it on the workbench. “What’s the problem?”

“The propulsion is working incorrectly. Every time I charge it stalls halfway through,” Reinhardt explained, twisting his hands. Etienne nodded, noting all of the places bolted or screwed together and all of the places riveted together. He worked quietly and almost entirely forgot about the large attractive man watching him work. Etienne found the problem to be a hose that wasn’t tight enough and fixed it (and several other loose bolts, screws, and hoses) before putting it all back together.

“Loose hose. Should work perfectly fine now, I also took the liberty of fixing a few other things so they wouldn’t get to be problems any time soon.” Etienne handed Reinhardt the chest plate with a warm smile. “If there’s any problems just find me here.”

“Thank you,” Reinhardt replied. The golden retriever look came back with the dopey smile and slightly tilted head. 

“It’s my job,” Etienne laughed. He glanced up at Reinhardt smiling but then he heard someone shouting from across the shop.

“Reinhardt! Are you harassing my new mechanic?” A man yelled.

“Of course not Lindholm!” Reinhardt clapped a hand on Etienne’s shoulder. “I will see you later, my friend.” He wandered off with his newly fixed chest piece and left Etienne standing there slightly dazed. A short man came over to Etienne. In place of one hand was what appeared to be a clamp.

“Torbjorn Lindholm, I run the shops and occasionally work with the strike team.” 

“Etienne Rowe.”

“You must be special to be requested after being discharged.” He gave Etienne a look, and Etienne suddenly felt the need to explain.

“I’ve done work with various prosthetic companies and different organizations to engineer their equipment. A lot of the work I’ve done was with no preexisting experience in the area I was working in and I built highly successful pieces.” Etienne extended his prosthetic hand. “I worked with the company to customize my own arm. The main modification was a toolset inside, but the other one is this.” Etienne flexed his hand and the plain black nails extended into claws. “Basic self defense.”

“So you do fancy work, but do you know your way around a shop?” Etienne laughed.

“I just fixed Amari’s gun and Wilhelm’s chest plate before you came over here.”

“Well, you’ll probably have to fix Wilhelm’s armor again soon if that’s the case. I keep telling him to stop rattling it around so much but he never listens.” Lindholm guided Etienne around the workshop and had him work on menial tasks to get an idea of how he worked. That was Etienne’s guess anyways.

As Etienne was leaving that compound for the day, around nine thirty, Reinhardt came over with a grin. “Do you have time for a drink?” Reinhardt asked. His ever present smile made it hard to deny him. “It’s not very far.”

“Sure, who else is going?” 

“Amari and Reyes, you didn’t meet him yet,” Reinhardt answered. 

“I don’t want to leave my bike here,” Etienne said and motioned to his motorcycle. “I’ll just follow your car there.” Reinhardt grinned.

“Fantastic! I’ll see you there.” Reinhardt clapped Etienne on the shoulder before walking off to his own car. Etienne took in a deep breath, let it out, and put on his helmet. He was way too flustered to be going and getting drunk with a very attractive and large man.


End file.
